The settlement was commanded by Lieutenant Governor David Collins, who arrived on the warship H.M.S Calcutta in October 1803 with some 300 male convicts, a party of Royal Marines, civil official and settlers. Knopwood's diary of the period from Collin's landing until his departure for Van Diemen's Land in January 1804, is one of the few surviving accounts of settlement. It records attempts by the settlers to find fresh water, the exploration of the bay; the escape of convicts, the mutinous mood of the marines' armed clashes between the colonists and the local Aborigines, and many details of daily life in the camp
Notes
Includes index
"A rare historical record of Victoria's first European settlement at Sullivan Bay 1803-1804" -- on cover
